It looks like President Taya is out of luck today. He was out of the country attending King Fahd’s funeral in Saudi Arabia when the military decided they were going to take over! Good news? Bad news? Let’s see what all happened.

Nouakchott, Mauritania – A group of army officers in Mauritania have overthrown President Maaoya Sid’Ahmed Taya in an apparently bloodless coup d’etat, announcing a military junta would rule the Islamic nation for up to two years.

Taya, who himself seized power in a coup two decades ago, was out of the country at the time.

arrived on Wednesday in nearby Niger from Saudi Arabia, where he had gone on Monday for the funeral of King Fahd.

Trouble began at dawn, when presidential guard troops took control of the national radio and television stations, cutting broadcasts and seizing a building housing the army chief of staff headquarters.

Cabinet ministers and army officials either could not be reached or refused to comment.

No private broadcasters are allowed to operate in the tightly controlled desert nation.

The group of army officers issued a statement through the state-run news agency.

They identified themselves as the Military Council for Justice and Democracy.

The most interesting part comes next:

The statement, signed by a so-called Military Council for Justice and Democracy, said the council would rule the Islamic republic for two years.

“The armed forces and security forces have unanimously decided to put a definitive end to the totalitarian activities of the defunct regime under which our people have suffered so much over recent years,” the statement said.

“This council pledges before the Mauritanian people to create favorable conditions for an open and transparent democracy” it said.

President Taya has ruled Mauritania for just over two decades now, though a constitution and multi-party elections have been in place since 1991. But like most countries in the region, these elections were just attempts to legitimize the coup that started his original rule. In effect, Mauritania is a one party state and Taya is the dictator.

There are significant challenges that are posed to the Bush Doctrine by this situation. First of all, Mauritania is an Islamic Republic whose system of law is based partially on sharia. There are some pretty radical Islamic leaders, and certainly there are elements of Al Qaeda in and around the country. Since the country doesn’t have a liberal civil society yet, elections would only bring into power other dictators. The other question that has to be wondered about is whether a military coup can assuredly bring about democracy.

First of all, elections are not the only benchmark of democracy, so they definitely should not be held immediately. The country needs time to liberalize. Even Natan Sharansky in The Case For Democracy points this out. As for the military officers who commited the coup, they may or may not be genuine, but hopefully they are the former. A good sign is that President Taya has persecuted hundreds of soldiers in the past years, accusing them of plotting coups. Well, it looks like he was right, but that persecution is going to hopefully have a positive effect on how the military council rules.

To make a comparison, this is like the military coup in Guinea-Bissau where a transitional government was set up in order to progress the country to the point where it could hold elections. That is what needs to happen here; fighting down radical elements while promoting a diverse civil society. Two years should be enough for the council, and thankfully it is a council instead of a single person, to do this.

UPDATE: I had to run out for some errands, but I wanted to add a few things about the government that was just deposed. President Taya supported Saddam Hussein back in 1991, but now he is an ally in the GWOT. The difference between him and other, more democratic allies is that Taya is a total opportunist. Yes, while he is cracking down on terrorists, he also cracks down on liberal forces within society calling them terrorists as well. The essential difference between him and the military council will be that the latter will continue the crackdown on terrorists, except that it will be more lenient on liberal forces because of its opposition to totalitarianism.

Of course, don’t expect a bastion of civil liberties to suddenly appear. If the council is serious, then they will probably run the country toward democracy in the way Pinochet did.

MORE: Bill Crawford posts on the rise of radical Islam in Mauritania. Which is exactly why liberalism needs to be built in conjunction with anti-terror operations to compete with and eventually stamp out extremism.

Jonathan comments at The Head Heeb:

My guess is that it will go much like the Central African Republic or Guinea-Bissau – i.e., that the AU will accept the junta fairly quickly as Mauritania’s de facto rulers and work with them to ensure a quick return to constitutional government. Unlike Guinea-Bissau or the CAR, though, the presence of an Islamist opposition in Mauritania will make this process very unpredictable, and may bring in interests outside the region.

He also notes that the military council hasn’t disclosed any of its alignments, its position with regards to America, etc.